Rays suffer colossal collapse against Cleveland

Monday night figured to be memorable for the Rays, what with David Price taking the ball for the first time as a full-time member of Tampa Bay's rotation.

And what transpired over nearly four hours at Progressive Field certainly qualified as historic, though it wasn't the kind of history the Rays would have imagined even as the final half-inning began.

In an astonishing sequence of events, four Rays relievers couldn't record the final three outs of what should have been a comfortable victory, allowing seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to author the biggest collapse in franchise history. Victor Martinez's sharp single up the middle off Jason Isringhausen brought home the final two runs in a stunning 11-10 triumph for Cleveland.

"It's just a shame, how well we came out and hit the ball, to let it slip away from us," said Isringhausen, whose inability to throw a strike before that pitch to Martinez doomed the visitors in the end.

This was a game the Rays led 10-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning, but the work the Indians did to rally for their 14th consecutive home victory against Tampa Bay served to one-up the Rays for their rally from a 7-0 hole against the Indians just 10 days earlier at Tropicana Field.

Whereas the Rays had steadily chipped away over several innings May 15 to assemble the biggest comeback in their history, all of the damage in this one came at the end. The Rays led 10-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, and the two runs Dale Thayer surrendered there seemed a mere annoyance until everything unraveled in the final frame.

Thayer got the first out, with a walk and a single sandwiched on either side of it, before Randy Choate came on for his Rays debut. The lefty got a ground ball out of Shin-Soo Choo and Reid Brignac tried to hustle it into a game-ending double play, but his throw went wide and sailed into right field for an error.

That brought Grant Balfour into the game, and he recorded the second out before absorbing the blow that sent the smattering of remaining fans into a frenzy. Ryan Garko slammed a high fastball out to left for his second home run of the night, suddenly making it 10-8, and Balfour walked the following hitter to bring the tying run to the plate.

Joe Maddon summoned Isringhausen at that point, giving the veteran an unexpected chance to add to his 293 career saves. But it was a disaster from the very beginning. Isringhausen walked three consecutive batters, forcing home a run and bringing Cleveland within one.

"I couldn't find the strike zone," Isringhausen said. "I'd rather give up home runs than walk people - make them at least earn it."

Martinez finally did, snapping a 0-for-18 skid (that still had him hitting .361 entering the final at-bat) with a laser back through the middle into center field.

Even as Isringhausen's command melted down in painstaking fashion, there was nowhere else for the Rays to turn. Maddon said he wasn't going to use Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell no matter what, and if the game had gone to extra innings Andy Sonnanstine probably would have pitched.

Obviously, Maddon never expected to be contemplating such matters with his team holding an eight-run lead in the eighth, and the blame for that could be laid on Price as heavily as anyone.

The lefty's stuff was electric in every regard - dangerous to both the recipient and Price. Despite his massive early cushion and just two runs allowed, he made it through only 31/3 innings, racking up 100 pitches to get that far.

"It all starts with the starting pitcher," Price said. "I've got to do a better job than that. Averaging 10 pitches an out, that's not good enough."